Phone Cables
by Sei-chan-1999
Summary: An ordinary tuition session in the Clamp campus is interrupted by an unexpected phone call for Subaru Sumeragi.


**Title:** Phone Cables

**Summary:** An ordinary tuition session in the Clamp campus is interrupted by a phone call for Subaru Sumeragi.

**Spoilers:** Not much. I assume that if you're reading this, you know what happens to the characters on some level, at least.

**Warning:** Original character. Although, not actually original, strictly speaking. Please give her a chance. To know more, read author's note at the bottom. Oh, and like most of my other fics, there's some SubKam. But it's pretty light here.

**Rating:** K

**Disclaimer:** I don't own X/1999 and all the characters are all the property of Clamp. Who could know that typing this would be so painful?

XXX

Phone Cables

By Sei-chan-1999

It was a delicate and fragile process, something that he could get involved in, even though he was just watching and breathing while gently trying to nudge Kamui in the right direction and keep him steady with nothing except the power of his mind alone.

The younger boy was bent over the thick spiral bound notebook, his scarred hand guiding a pen over thin blue lines as he took the single three sentence math problem, expanded it to inhuman proportions and attacked it before he compressed it again and triumphantly slashed the 'equal to' sign with much too much ferocity beside his resulting number. Then, he looked up anxiously for either a gentle smile of approval or a shake of the head and a hand reaching out to correct his work.

Kamui's hand was shaky but sure of its purpose, just like the boy himself, but the jagged scar was obviously a painful discomfort as he kept switching his hold over the pen and winced every now and then, convinced that he was hidden from the other's view by dark and messy bangs.

Subaru made a mental note to himself to make sure Kamui got it seen to as soon as possible.

Their journey was especially precarious now, as Kamui was down to the last three or four steps, where he'd do the most monstrous of calculations that would decide if he got a correct answer or not. From past experiences with the sixteen-year-old, Subaru knew that Kamui would come out all right as long as he could do this in peace and no one broke into the quiet serenity of the world the two of them had created together and-

-"Subaru-san? Are you there?"

Kamui started at the noise, lost his grip on his working and by the time he gathered the thoughts in his head and looked down again, he evidently realized that he'd have to do it all over again from the beginning.

"No way! Subaru, why does this happen _every time_?"

He groaned and let his head drop to the book while the Sumeragi frowned at the newcomer over Kamui's misery.

Yuzuriha Nekoi. And Inuki, of course.

She took in the scene, saw what she had caused and pressed a hand against her widened mouth in horror and apology; it was an academic crime to distract a senior doing Math.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she gasped out and wilted a little, "I didn't mean to disturb both of you."

Subaru, polite as usual, would've been ready to tell Yuzuriha that she wasn't disturbing but he doubted he'd sound convincing over Kamui sitting across from him, looking as if Fuuma had personally struck him down with his Shinken.

"Is anything the matter?" he queried as he gently pried the book from beneath Kamui's dejected head and marked a place for him from where he could salvage the whole equation without having to redo it. The teenager was too depressed to notice.

"No…but you have a call, Subaru-san," Yuzuriha said, peering at him doubtfully. Inuki glowered at the two of them.

"Me?"

Subaru put the notebook down and absently tapped the place he'd marked as Kamui tiredly lifted his head again.

Who on Earth would know to call him now, when he was at University, when they could reach him in Shinjuku or through his grandmother? His mind supplied nothing.

Except for that one answer, that single name that came out of nowhere, every single time.

_As usual_, he thought bitterly.

Yuzuriha looked at him, blushed and looked down.

"I was in the office and picked up the phone because no one else was there to get it," she admitted embarrassedly, "and the caller wanted to speak to you."

And after some hesitation-

"She told me that she's your mother," Yuzuriha flushed even harder as Kamui's head shot up and they both studied him curiously. He could understand why; Yuzuriha had been raised by her grandmother just as he had been, while Kamui's mother had been consumed by flames before his eyes, based on what he's heard from the others. He didn't blame the two for reacting that way.

"Thank you for telling me," he smiled at Yuzuriha and turned to Kamui, "Would you excuse me for a few minutes?"

Kamui was obviously shocked by the sudden formality in Subaru's voice but managed to stammer a "Yeah, sure."

Subaru pointed out the sum again and Kamui sighed.

"I'll see you around, Subaru-san," Yuzuriha chirped cheerily, as Inuki pulled himself off the grass and leaves, "And sorry for bothering you, Kamui-san."

She skipped away brightly, her inugami by her side.

Subaru stood up to leave but as he did, he paused to mess up Kamui's hair and _then_ walked towards the office, his mouth twisting at Kamui's choked sound of surprise.

XXX

_I should pick that up._

Yet, he stood there, watching the white receiver until the thought of how much the person the person on the other side would have to pay for his indulgence spurred him to pick it up, press it to his ear and wait. He stood. It was a habit he'd never really let go of. But at least, he'd stopped bowing.

"Subaru-san?"

He winced, unable to suppress it. The voice was one he hadn't heard in a long time but sounded just like his grandmother's, albeit a few decades younger.

And that salutation…

Part of him wished the caller was someone else, the person he longed for acknowledgement from, a person who'd sneeringly say the same name but with a different honorific after it; one that indicated that _Subaru_ was the inferior one for once.

He immediately rebuked himself for being so ungrateful and took a deep breath.

The last time he had heard that voice over a phone was nine years ago, when the caller had been crying over the line, blaming herself for his sister's death and begging him to give up his adolescent desire for vengeance.

Subaru Sumeragi had been seventeen when he had cut a call midway for the first time in his life.

"How are you?" he enquired politely; that way, he could get to the heart of the matter without rudely snubbing any efforts at small talk.

_Why are you calling me when I haven't seen your face for over a decade?_

That was the veiled question and he knew she knew it just as well as he did.

"I am fine, thank you for asking, Subaru-san."

"Please don't call me that."

The words slipped out before his brain registered them and once where he would've felt horror at his sacrilege, he just felt a dull chillness, waiting for the dial tone to tell him that the caller had hung up on him.

"I'm sorry," he mother said softly," May I address you as Subaru-kun?"

It was hesitant and unhappy, but that didn't soothe the storm of electric shocks that jolted crooked paths across every inch of his skin as it ignited something hard and deep and excruciating within him, almost bringing him to his knees before he forced himself upright again.

"Please. No."

He almost gasped the words out, reeling at how this stranger could hurt him so easily just because she was the one who had given birth to him.

"Subaru-chan?"

It was awkward, grammatically wrong and ill-suited, but it was unused and at the moment, it would do perfectly.

"That would be fine. Is everything well in Kyoto?"

Go for the heart of it all. It hurts less. It was a lesson he'd been taught for the past nine years but it had never been true for him.

"We are all well in Kyoto. I just called to see how you are doing. I hope I am not intruding into the personal time of the Clan Head."

The first half was said hesitantly, offering careful affection as if caller almost expected her love to be hurled back into her face, ripped and bloodied, across a telephonic line.

The second half was formal again.

Subaru wavered, stuck between the conflicted emotions of another person. Again. He should've been used to it, but he wasn't.

A pause and then…

"I'm attending University, here in Tokyo."

His mother drew in her breath sharply.

"University?"

He nodded, remembered the technological limits of a phone and then spoke out loud.

"Yes."

He waited for the incredulity that was sure to follow; how could a boy who'd dropped out of school as a teenager go to University?

"I hope you find it to your satisfaction, Subaru-chan?"

He blinked and shifted the receiver to his other ear with both hands.

"I'm sorry, Mother?"

It was the first time he had used the word in this conversation and maybe it was his imagination, but he could feel her joy; like what he felt within when Kamui yelled out his name blatantly without an honorific or when Seishirou admitted his existence with a smirk and a calm 'Subaru-kun' that was said so fast that the sounds melted against each other.

"I simply meant to say that University is a very special period in one's life, Subaru-chan, and quite an enjoyable experience. I was always saddened by the circumstances that forced you to focus on…other matters. Now that you have your chance to pursue studies of your own choice, I hope you find it to your liking."

The unsteadiness was gone, to be replaced by the tentative tone of a person trying to forge a light connection. It wouldn't work. Connections were never made in dead places within dead people. But now, he wasn't so sure of that.

"It's not serious or anything," he hurriedly went on to explain, "I just attend a few classes when I can but other times, I take tuition for a …friend of mine who's in high school."

He felt like a stuttering sixteen-year-old again.

"I see," his mother replied without a break, "You have no need to justify yourself to me. I'm glad you have this opportunity in the midst of what is taking place now and I wanted to make sure you are investing enough time on your well being."

_You all think I'm going to die this year._

They were all right in a way, but so terribly wrong as well.

"I have been in touch with your grandmother," she went on, "and she worries about your health. All of us do."

"I apologize for causing such an inconvenience," Subaru said automatically, his voice quiet as he looked at a wall clock nearby. They'd been talking for nine minutes, including the waiting time. It felt like ninety.

"No! That isn't what I wanted to say," his mother protested, the volume of her voice going up as he tensed, "We all care about you as a part of our _family_ and not simply as the head of the Sumeragi."

Subaru remained silent.

"Regardless of what happens or what choices you make, we will always be thankful for your existence in our lives!"

She fell silent as if shamed at her outburst; a perfectly worded explosion of feeling, but a public display nonetheless.

"Thank you," he murmured into the speaker. He meant it. And he knew that she was well aware of it. She was the reason for his being, after all.

"Your grandmother," she continued more briskly, "informed me that you have taken up smoking and indulge in it…quite frequently."

Kamui had asked him what an 'understatement' was when they'd been doing English together. He now had an answer for him.

"It's a habit I started when I reached my age of majority," he replied evenly, " Are you going to ask me to stop?"

"You wouldn't listen to me even if I begged you," she said dryly, "You were always the more stubborn one but nobody ever saw it in you then."

She didn't have to say whom she was comparing him to.

"I see."

"As I have been told that you favor no particular brand," she severely went on, "I expect my son to choose wisely for himself to make sure he does not inflict himself with lung cancer by relying on a cheap company and leaving this world while he is still needed and wanted within it."

Subaru tried to speak, failed and spoke again.

"I will," he confirmed and registered that Imonoyama-san's office was a lot more…watery than he remembered it being.

"Would it be convenient for you to speak with your father?" she asked cautiously after a small silence.

"Excuse my rudeness," he said, keeping his voice in place, "but I have to attend to my friend…the one I'm teaching."

He took a deep breath before after moving the phone away a little, to calm himself down.

"Of course. I'd never ask you to neglect your duty. Perhaps next time, Subaru-chan?"

"All right, Mother."

They both knew that it would not happen again but it was easier to maintain the façade.

He put the phone down a few minutes later and let the tears stream down over a face that he held perfectly still. He didn't allow himself to make a single sound.

XXX

When he got back after a few minutes, Kamui was still there, waiting faithfully as he doodled pictures of flames around the border of his notebook. He had finished the problem Subaru had set him, along with three others and hurriedly flipped the page with his scribbles on them when he saw his tutor returning.

It nearly tore him apart to have to tell Kamui that all of them were wrong.

To his surprise, the sixteen-year-old just quietly turned to a new page and started fresh all over again. He took note of the mild expression on Subaru's face and halted.

"Did I do something wrong _already_?" he complained.

Subaru shook his head.

"To be more honest, I thought you'd be more upset about it," he admitted.

Kamui smiled a little shyly at him.

"I mind only when I have to do it all by myself," he confessed in turn, dropping his gaze. Subaru studied for a while before speaking.

"Sometimes, don't you think it's harder if other people are involved?"

The question was out before he could bite it back and all he could do was wait.

Kamui met his eyes again as he squinted a little. This wasn't about the math; he was sure about that, but not much else.

"It depends on the situation," he said finally, "But as long as there _are_ others, we should be content…because we don't know how long they'll be there."

He bit his lower lip hard for a few moments in deep thought before pulling a disgusted face at his own handwriting in the notebook.

"Even if some of those_ others_ worry about your school grades when the earth is waiting to explode or…whatever."

Subaru raised an eyebrow while Kamui jutted out his chin in defiance.

"Having others keeps you from making _mistakes_," he teased gently, emphasizing the last word.

Kamui smirked.

"_Others_ don't let me have my teenager's life," he pointed out.

"If you think your life as a teenager isn't satisfactory, Kamui," he began, "you really should've seen mine, back when-"

"Don't you say 'back in my time' like you're so much older than me," Kamui butted in, something that no one besides Hokuto and Seishirou-san had ever done while he was speaking, "And, you didn't have to go to school as much as I did," he continued before sitting up straight, waiting to argue some more.

"And unless you get back to that equation, you won't have to," Subaru chided and jerked his chin at the notebook, "Come on."

Kamui smiled and turned away from him again.

Alone together, they sat in the mid-morning sun, trying to solve an infinite and inexplicable mystery of numbers with combined efforts.

The battle for Earth was pointless. There was no need to create a new world out of an old one.

They had their very own, right there.

The End.

XXX

Author's Note:

Okay. Here goes. This will be long.

Subaru's mother is not an original character and neither is his father. Most people have this really romanticized view of Subaru all by himself in the world while his parents are dead and (I think) I have proof to show that he has parents who are currently alive.

If you go to Volume 9, when he's in Kamui's heart and talks to the child Kamui about having a wish he wants to make reality, Subaru says that he will pursue his wish even if it depresses the people who worry about him.

When he says that, there's a tiny panel that shows a partial cut of Subaru's grandmother, who is his only living relative he is close to, since Hokuto is dead and no one else from his clan is ever mentioned in X. But still, Subaru says 'everyone' when referring to those who care for him instead of 'one' and we can see two incomplete cuts of a man and a woman standing beside Subaru's unhappy grandmother. The faces are never shown but the woman is wearing something like a kimono and has cropped hair like the twins from TB, while there is a man near her.

Yeah, I think they're his parents and I interpreted it that way and hence, this fic was born.

Also, I love the little tuition scene in X, as do all other SubKam fans and have been wrangling with math so that's how the intro came about. _And_ I got 100% in my math board exam. Go me!

Feel free to comment, review, drop me a Personal message to argue the point or anything else. I appreciate constructive criticism and would gladly review for you.

Thanks for reading.


End file.
